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Friday, August 31, 2007

If you have a chance this weekend, head out to the World Famous San Diego Zoo for the final weekend of Nighttime Zoo. The Festival de las Caras ("of the masks") ends on September 3rd. Special zoo hours are currently 9am-8pm (stay on the grounds till 9:00 p.m.) but will go back to regular hours (open till 4) after Labor Day Weekend is over.

I had the chance to head over with my mom, my brother in law, my sister, and my niece.

Did you know the zoo serves bottled beer? While I didn't actually pay the $5 or so for a bottle of Corona, I've considered packing my own, though I like to feel I'm kinda one with nature as I walk the hills of the zoo. But I'm just saying, it wouldn't be a bad idea.

Nighttime zoo is such a different experience than the zoo by day. I mean, for one, it was a Thursday night, so the park was pretty empty. There are also festivities and bands playing. As I walked in, there was a band playing a merengue version of the chicken dance and there were about 20 toddlers all dancing along.

I also had never seen a flamingo sleep. I thought they were dead until they looked as us when Johanna started to cry. I always thought they slept on one leg. See, you can learn something new every day.

There's also a live painter doing "Splash" painting. He starts with a blank canvas and in about 15 minutes has a full painting of some animal, all the while dipping his hands in the paint and "splashing" it to the canvas for effects.

We made our way down monkey trails and through various aviaries. The animals are a little bit more alive at night when the air has cooled a bit. We brought flashlights and were able to see the cats stalking around their enclosures whereas usually they are just sleeping somewhere in a corner. We finished the night watching Talamasca, a show of how storytelling has been carried on through the ages with dancers, martial artists, and Cirque su Soleil type acrobats. The show had all the kids in the theatre wide eyed and engaged.

After the show the park is pretty much closed, so we made our way out having enjoyed San Diego's gem in the heart of our city. Try and catch it if you can before it is gone. It is also the final weekend of Park At Dark at the Wild Animal Park if you get a chance to head up that way. Membership is inexpensive and benefits the Zoological Society and their focus on breeding and conservation programs and are well worth the cost.

(repost from Lou's Site)DOLLAR SALE!! IT'S BACK!!! The always popular Lou's Records Dollar Sale is back for your buying pleasure. All day Saturday, September 1st and Sunday, September 2nd every CD on the patio is only $1! A deal that can't be passed up! Look for the canopy set up in front of the Lou's office building, one door north of our Used Dept. Stop by and see what goodies you can get your mitts on!

FM 94/9 hosted the Marc Ford, Swedish Models, and Charissa Saverio show at the Belly Up last night. When they do that, Anya Marina or another 94/9 DJ introduces the bands coming on, and occasion have swag to give away to people who correctly answer their trivia question. Anya asked "What band is having a CD release party this Saturday night at the Belly Up?"Of course I knew that my boys Dynamite Walls are releasing their album this weekend (and you should be there because the CD is DAMN GREAT. Anyway, my cat was digging through my swag bag and knocking shit all over the floor and I realized in the bag was a pair of Pato Banton tickets for Sunday's show. I have family in town this weekend and won't be able to make the show, so if anyone would like the tickets, simply e-mail me and they are yours. No contest, no trivia. Just tell me you want them (and can come by my place and pick them up) and they are yours. First response wins.

The discussion about the ever changing landscape of music trudges along. Some people (namely the big record labels) bitch and moan. "Declining record sales are the fault of downloaders, blah blah blah." My feeling is you accept the changes and work them to your favor or you get lost in the dust. Maybe more musicians doing things in a DIY way can afford their rent in exchange for the execs only having 10 bedroom houses instead of 15 bedroom houses. wah. What I'm interested in are the innovators that say, yes, it's changing, but it can work for us. Fighting the web is like trying to stop an ocean wave with your hands. Not gonna happen. Obviously as a blogger, I have my share of opinions about all of it, but I stand up behind sites like MySpace, YouTube, vMix, mTraks, Veoh, Virb and the like in all that they do for levelling the playing field and opening up the musical landscape. There's room for everyone.It is known that there is a MySpace record label, and now, MySpace is presenting their first national tour. Say Anything and hellogoodbye are headlining with various guests in each city of the tour. The tour will make it's way through San Diego on November 17, and I'll be there if Tom is there. Tickets go onsale Friday, Aug 31 at 1 pm. Click the link below for tickets.Pre-Sale Tickets Available Exclusively for MySpace Members Beginning Aug. 31

(update: tickets are selling now;$20 each)

I wasn't gonna post the whole press release, but I kinda like all the corporate mumbo jumbo. MySpace, America's most trafficked website, today announced the official launch of the ‘MySpace Music Tour,’ a new series of MySpace produced and branded concert events. The first MySpace Music Tour, presented by Extreme Style by VO5, will kick off Oct. 16 in Seattle, WA, and will be co-headlined by artists Hellogoodbye and Say Anything. Other bands will include MySpace Records artist, Polysics, and to-be-announced special guests. The Tour will include more than 30 shows across the United States throughout October and November 2007."MySpace has served as a platform for countless bands and musicians around the world to showcase and promote their music to millions of fans online," said Tom Anderson, president and co-founder of MySpace. "With the new MySpace Music Tour concert series we are able to bring people face-to-face with the bands and artists they’ve come to know and love on the site. The kick-off tour has an amazing line-up of bands and I know the MySpace community will be psyched to see them live.”

Presented by Extreme Style by VO5, the MySpace Music Tour will have a dedicated online community on MySpace, where fans can find all tour information and purchase tickets. The profile will also feature exclusive content, including band blogs from the road, photo galleries and exclusive offers and sweepstakes for MySpace users to win a chance to hang out backstage with the bands.

“Extreme Style by VO5 is all about individuality and self-expression, making MySpace a great partner and the MySpace Music Tour an ideal venue,” explained Rob Keen, Marketing Director for VO5. “Music and style are the main vehicles for self-expression, and we’re helping provide both with amazing music and styling stations for men and women to achieve their personal looks.”

Co-headliners Hellogoodbye and Say Anything have made their names as popular MySpace Music artists. Hellogoodbye's first full-length album, Zombies! Aliens! Vampires! Dinosaurs! was released in 2006 featuring the platinum single, "Here in your arms." Alternative rock band Say Anything will release its second album In Defense of the Genre, in October 2007. Japan’s Polysics are touring in support of their first album for MySpace Records, Polysics or Die: VISTA!!!, which comes out Oct. 9. Widely known for their hyper-kinetic live shows, Polysics perform new wave punk in Japanese, English and even their own space-language.

"Hellogoodbye are big fans of MySpace, and I don't want to brag or anything, but I am a pretty good blogger,” said Forrest Kline, lead singer and guitarist of Hellogoodbye. “MySpace has allowed me to develop my blogging skills and I am thrilled to be on the first ever MySpace tour and further refine those skills by posting post-show blogs."

“We are stoked as beans to be on the first MySpace tour with Hellogoodbye!! It’s going to rock!” said Max Bemis of Say Anything.

The MySpace Music Tour will kick off Oct. 16 in Seattle, WA and will wrap in Las Vegas Thanksgiving weekend. Pre-sale tickets will be available for purchase exclusively on MySpace for MySpace members only beginning Aug. 31. Ticket sales for the general public will begin on Sept. 6. Full details about the first ever MySpace Music Tour, including dates and tour stops, will be available on MySpace. The next concert tour in the ‘MySpace Music Tour’ series will take place in Spring 2008, with additional details to be announced in the coming months.

To date, MySpace has more than eight million bands using the site. MySpace music has allowed bands to share music and videos, announce tour dates and communicate with fans and others in the MySpace community, seamlessly integrating the web into shared online and offline experiences. MySpace Music has been the launch pad for exclusive, high-profile album releases from artists such as Gnarls Barkley, Panic! At the Disco, Lily Allen, Fall Out Boy, Timbaland, Modest Mouse, The Used, and many more. Exclusive album releases recently featured on MySpace include T-Pain (#1 Debut on Billboard), The Used (#5 Debut on Billboard), Timbaland (#2 Debut on Billboard), Modest Mouse (#1 Debut on Billboard), and The Shins (#2 Debut on Billboard).

California, US - Rock Band partners with Vib Gyor of Leeds, UK on Fall Tour.

San Diego, CA, August 23, 2007 – TRANSFER is excited to announce a fall 2007 tour of the United Kingdom. A highly anticipated tour for the San Diego band, they will be reunited with the explosive rock of Leeds, UK band Vib Gyor for a two week trek across England.

Opening in Sheffield, on October 19th, the tour hits major English markets including Leeds, Manchester, London, and Liverpool before closing in Stockton at the Georgian Theatre on October 27. Additional cities and dates will be added, and are available by visiting www.myspace.com/transferband.

Show goers can expect a high energy show, blending a dynamic spectrum of thoughtful rock & roll and gritty guitars with emotionally charged vocals. TRANSFER, a four piece, consists of Matthew Molarius on guitar and vocals, Jeremy Chambers on bass, Jason Cardenas on guitar, and Michael Cooper on drums.

Having spent the majority of 2006 & first half of 2007 touring the American south and northwest in support of their critically acclaimed debut LP Faded Signal, TRANSFER found time to take home a coveted 2006 San Diego Music Award for "Best Alternative Album", receive a 07' nomination for "Best Rock Band", land a song on Sony Playstation's "MLB the Show", appear on MTV2's "Bands on the Rise", while receiving steady airplay on San Diego, CA stations 94.9 (KBZT) and 91X (XTRA).

Maya Kroth of the San Fransisco Weekly adds, "Singer Matt Molarius channels Jeff Buckley's tortured vibrato throughout, while the songs run the gamut from ambient, slide-guitar jams to big, fuzzed-out rockers, a range that should appeal to fans of Built to Spill and Pinback…San Diego's TRANSFER is already a fan favorite in its home town and deserves to get noticed with this debut full-length."

Visit www.transferband.com or www.myspace.com/transferband for up to the minute tour news, information, and dates.

I keep hearing people talking about Monday night's Wilco show as one of the best ever and I feel bad that my mindset was in another place that night. People are saying it was the "concert of the year" and the like, and I feel bad that I didn't give a proper review. So I'm sorry for my blah review. My friend Greg has written a proper review of the show at the Greek, however, so I hope this makes up for my shit post.

Before I get into the proper review for the show, I just have to comment on the restroom facilities at The Greek. Anyone who has ever been to the Greek knows it is an amazing picturesque outdoor venue nestled in the hills of Griffith Park in L.A.; which has won all kinds of national awards for best small outdoor venue over they years. The gorgeous, tree-lined setting surrounding the venue , the great, initmate seating arrangement (at least for an outdoor venue) and the great acoustics give little reason to doubt that fact. However, the wild-card that probably pushed them over the top, no doubt was the immaculate restrooms of this venue. I mean, I almost felt guilty and unworthy of using them. A part of me felt like hunting down a port-a-potty or going up in the trees behind a bush. A simpleton like me using these restrooms that looked like they we're constructed for royalty? How dare I? The nerve! I mean, you're talking to someone who has had endure some of the most disgusting, vile, disease ridden restroom facilites in the world at some of the other venues I've been to. Plus, and I'm not joking here, I've actually had to use an outhouse (also known as the redneck port-a-potty) from time to time years ago when I stayed with my grandparents . They had one in their back-yard that we had to use it when their septic tank went out from time to time. So, going from that to the majestic facilities of The Greek was quite a humbling experience. I actually thought I walked in the wrong place when I went to use it last night. I almost felt like asking the attendant for permisson or if I had to pay a luxery fee. I mean, the only thing these restrooms didnt have was the proverbial red carpet and servants dropping rose petals at you feet as you walked to your stall. I guess that is why the Greek is so decorated. They pay attention to the most mundane details, making you feel like a king or movie star just about everywhere you go there. It is in the Hollywood hills, so I guess it shouldnt be that big of a surprise. If you ever go see a show a show there, see for yourself. I'm not over-exaggerating this at all. And, better yet, it was free from naughty, dirty old Congressmen hiding out trying to solicit other men for sex. (I will defintiely think twice about using the restrooms in the Minneapolis airport if I ever fly there).

Ok, onto the small little issue of the show itself. For those of you who have read about or went to the show in San Diego two days previously, the setlist at The Greek pretty much consisted of the same songs from their new album with the exception of "On And On and On" which closed out the first part of the set. Regardless of what people feel about their album "Sky, Blue, Sky", I think the new songs sound great live. They also played a healthy portion of songs from "Yankee Hotel Foxtrot" which, again, almost mirrored the San Diego set list with the exception by "Pot Kettle Black", which amazingly was the first time I had heard that song played live, after 6 shows since YHF came out. And of course the band played concert staples "A Shot In The Arm" and "Via Chicago" from Summerteeth.

What is surprising me a bit about this tour is the lack of songs from "A Ghost Is Born". They only played two at The Greek: "Hummingbird"; and a song that will undenieably be a part of their setlist until they hang it up, "Spiders (Kidsmoke)". It was also quite refreshing to hear "Too Far Apart" from A.M. again . It had been over 10 years since I had heard that song played live until the San Diego show. I'm glad they broke it out for this show as well. They pretty much ignored their twangier songs for the encores, which was a little surprising. They traded them in this night for all out rockers "I'm Always In Love" and "Outtasite (Outta Mind)", which they rocked incredibly hard and had the crowd going nuts, myself included. It had been a while since I had heard "Outtasite" as well and it was great to hear it again and get transported down memory lane for a little bit. They closed the second encore and the show with the crowd pleasers "Heavy Metal Drummer" and "Spiders (Kidsmoke)".

Overall it was a great show. The good thing about the pit section at The Greek is that it is GA WITHOUT seating (hint,hint SDSU OAT) which gives it that old-school, bar/club vibe. Wilco is a band that thrives in that scene and you could tell they we're enjoying that vibe at The Greek, as well. The pit crowd was pretty much energized throughout the show and the band seemed to feed off that energy, delivering an inspired, rocking set that left the crowd very satisfied. So, overall it was a great night of music; and was worth the trip up to L.A., if only for the reason to say that I got graced with the spendor and pageantry of the Greek restrooms; which made me feel like a king for a few minutes. Until next time. Greg Padgett

Update: Eulogies are NOT playing the Beauty Bar tonight. The show has been cancelled. I'm loving the CD though (for people who also like Only Son, Chris Garneau, The One AM Radio, Sea Wolf). Keep an eye out, the rescheduled date falls near the end of their tour on November 8.

I don't know how much I can say about Dangerbird Records except that they have yet to disappoint me with an artist on their roster. The latest of those artist, Eulogies, are playing at the Beauty Bar on Thursday night. Here's the press on the band:

Eulogies self-titled debut album will be released on September 11th viaDangerbird Records. The Peter Walker-fronted band formed while on tour with himas a solo artist last year. Upon returning to Los Angeles they recorded theiralbum with co-production by Hrishikesh Hirway (The One AM Radio) and now theband is hitting the road for their first ever tour.

The bonus is that the band's tour doesn't actually start until October 10, so consider this your sneak peek and opportunity to catch them in a small intimate venue.

California is in a stage one energy alert... no rolling blackouts until we hit stage 3, but they're asking for people with A/C to set the thermostat to 78 degrees. 78! haha. I'm pretty sure the landlord in front of me has her's set somewhere around 60 degrees. Even when she's not home. I have a kitchen overhead fan and a floor fan and I'd turn them off if I didn't have 4 pets who deserve to live in a household under 90 degrees. It's been hot. I prefer to stay up till the sun rises, then sleep when it's uber hot outside. If you happen to come to my house, don't mind the pet hair on my floor. I will vacuum when the energy crisis ends. Don't even ask about my laundry. Just glad I'm not any where else in the country because every other place sucks even worse than here. Yeah, Vegas, how's that 120 workin out? New York humidity? Awe. some. I don't pay sunshine tax for nuthin, but I'm kinda longing for Christmas-time when all I have to complain about is too much fog and wondering which hoodie I should wear. Yeah, global warming, what???

I spent my Wednesday sleeping in, meeting my sister and my niece and Sara at Ponce's (where I finally tried their cheeseburger. yum) then headed up with Natalie to the Belly Up for the last of the Belly Up's anniversary series. The funny thing was that The Swedish Models wanted me to take pics, but there were so many other photogs with such better cameras that I felt completely useless. We hung backstage for a while and then went out for Charissa Saviero, who admitted that she had just put a band together in two weeks. I was happy to see "Stinky"...Mr. Jeff Aafedt (sp?) the drummer of The Rugburns, doing his thing in this band. Charissa is a Brit singer songwriter who brings to mind 80 rock chicks while also keeping it fresh and new. This particular song, she said, was written by a friend. While I normally have issues with songs that use a common slang as their main chorus lines, I thought Charissa rocked well throughout her set... I just happened to capture the main ballad of their set.

Nat and I got there early in the night and the Swedish Models let us backstage to (probably in their poor interest) have a couple beers. We just tried to absorb the minimal A/C air coming through the backstage room. This is their setlist, preplanned on the fridge.The Swedish Models have so much talent between their five members, and with the bonus of the amazing sound at the Belly Up, I think there were people who were already fans of the band there eating them up, and new fans who wondered how they might not have heard of them before. They really are that good and make people wonder where they can hear more. I caught this song midsong, but I wanted to post it anyway, because the big thing about the Swedish Models is that they have two drummers... Andrew McNally and Dustin Paul, and they share a kick drum. My video may suck, but the band does not, and hopefully it gives a good feel for why there is so much talk about this band.

So the Swedes only have 7 songs at this point, but if you count the three false endings of their "epic" song, then I would say they have 10. Clearly they have enough buzz in town because it seemed more people were there to see them than the headliner, but eventually people filtered back into the Belly Up to see Marc Ford.

It was apparent that Marc has his share of audience, being around for so many years, but it wasn't really my thing. He's an amazing guitarist, but there was so much "wah, wah, wah" with the pedals that I thought of it as something dudes appreciate but for me, not as much. Plus Nat has to work so we headed off after a couple songs.

After I left Nat's, I stopped by the Pink Elephant but there was nothing for me there, so I came back to Kensington then visited my friends at the Ken Club.

Now I'm home in the comfort of my home watching sleazy DreamGirlz commercials while I watch shit TV and I thought I'd mention one more thing. Apparently Kensington is getting a new sign.

There will be a vote among Kensington residents on the sign replacement. The new sign has more decorative posts to match the light posts of the neighborhood as well as the stone pillars that can be seen around town, in areas like Uni Heights and Hillcrest. So the vote will be between a Kensington sign that arcs and one that hangs straight. I'm particular to the straight one, based on the renderings I've seen, but in a way, it is a little sad to see the current sign go, even though when you look at it, it looks like shoestrings hold it in place. Eh. I look forward to getting my ballot nonetheless.

While my job search continues, it's a little hard not to completely enjoy life on the dole. I've never really longed to be rich, but it sure would be nice to not have to work and be able to do this little bloggy thing, some volunteer work, and participate in things that I might not be able to do were I sitting in some office doing a nine to five. That said, I felt like I had no excuse to not participate in the Anti-War Protest/candlelight vigil that took place in cities all across the nation.

I've participated in various MoveOn.org events in the past. Phoning voters in other states, hosting movie parties, and sometimes, just showing up counts in big ways.

I took the bus downtown (I'm limiting my driving these days), and arrived at the rally right at 5 p.m. I showed up unprepared; no sign, no candles, no political t-shirt. Fortunately there's a Longs in Horton, so I bought a small posterboard and a super-duper sized marks-a-lot marker and made a sign. People had signs of all sorts- calling for impeachment, for the safe return of troops, for an immediate exit in Iraq and the Middle East. My sign simply said "Enough". Enough war. Enough Bush. Enough Lies. Enough Complacency. Just enough already.

I let the people around me be angry, yell, whistle, and chant. I think protests are solemn events. I think of the soldiers and civilians dying. I think of how too many people don't care. I think of how subversive this administration has been. I think of those two election days. It can all just be overwhelming. So I was quiet and stood on the street just holding my sign.

After a while, there was a speaking portion. Bob Filner spoke and pointed out some statistics that shocked the hell out of me. He said the number of Vietnam Vets who have committed suicide now matches the amount of US soldiers who died there and pointed out that Bush has suppressed any investigations about PTSD. He said that we are spending $1 Billion every two and a half days. He said that 95% of soldiers are surviving IED explosions but with more severe brain injuries and missing limbs.

After Filner, Marjorie Cohn spoke. She's the president of the National Lawyers Guild, a professor at Thomas Jefferson School of Law, and author of several books, including Cowboy Republic: Six Ways the Bush Gang Has Defied The Law and talked about the criminal activity of the administration. There were a couple other speakers, including Gloria Daviston, an Army vet who is now part of Veterans for Peace. She happened to be my favorite speaker because her message was simple: show up and speak up. "When you're tired of the protests, there is a US Soldier, Sailor, Airman or Marine in the trenches in the desert of Iraq fulfilling his duty, so you go anyway. When you're depressed and overwhelmed by everything going on, you go anyway because there is a US Soldier, Sailor, Airman or Marine that is overwhelmed in the middle of the war. You go anyway."

Sometimes the protests bring people on the fringe... there was the one guy (as always) yelling to make pot legal. There was one guy screaming in the faces of protesters with his middle finger out yelling that he was just there expressing his own protected freedom of speech. He's right, you have the freedom to be an asshole. Doesn't mean you have to be. Everyone else was relatively mellow.

The crowd started to thin out and I don't know if they ever got around to burning candles, but I headed off to catch some happy hour bargains at House of Blues. $6 for catfish nuggets, fries and a Peroni is one of my favorite bargains in town.

I wanted to head to the Casbah tonight, but my bus got my home a bit later than planned and I had a lot of web-stuff to catch up on. Plus, I'll be out every other night this week... Swedish Models at the Belly Up on Wed, Eulogies at the Beauty Bar on Thursday, wherever the wind takes me on Friday, the Pop Luck on Saturday followed by the Alibi. Check back for pics and more of my ramblings. Holy shit, how did it get to be 5 a.m.?

Actually, this isn't really a post about Wilco. It's more of a defense as to why I was sooo outta my mind b.o.r.e.d. at the Wilco show. If you were at the show and had an "amazing" night, I'd love to know what I was missing, but I was bored and didn't stay for the whole show. I know a lot of it was my fault, so here's how my night went.

I hadn't had any food all day, so I decided to walk over to Ponce's before the show for some dinner. Paloma was working the bar and I made the mistake of letting her make the call on what I was gonna drink. She made me her unnamed specialty. It was almost a marg, but had more oj and I think maybe some malibu or something in it. A girlie drink that after I finished my second, I started calling "the sneaker" because even with a full Ponce's meal, I was feelin it. I met some guys who were also going to the show while sitting at the bar and even saw Owen and his friend there. I was feeling good and excited, and I was already planning on taking the bus to the show, so what the hell...I finished with a Dos Equis and a shot of Cazadores.

While walking to the bus, I saw Todd at the Ken Club. Uh, yeah, I hung out there for a while (*ahem*) then finally caught the MTS to SDSU. When I got to the venue, I ran into Rodger and Sarah and others in the front of the beer line and they kindly got me one then I headed to my seat.

I had sold my second seat, so I was surrounded by strangers which wasn't really a fun way to experience a big show. Plus, after being backstage at Warped and in the VIP and photopit for SCMX, plus my general preference for the Casbah, Beauty Bar and other small stage shows, I felt sooo far away from the action. Tweedy was great, the band sounded great, but it felt too perfect in a way. Like what I heard onstage was exactly what I was listening to on my iPod on my busride over.

I was unsuccessful at finding someone willing to drive me home, so I started getting panicky that I was gonna miss the last bus through Kensington, so I left sometime before 10. In my head I intended to get to the Kava Lounge for the Gogol Bordello after party, but instead stayed on the bus until Normal Heights and headed to the Ould Sod (fate or accidently missed my stop?). My friend/neighbor came and met me at the bar for a drink and drove me home. We hung out for a while and after he left, I grabbed a blanket and laid on my lawn until 4 in the morning checking out the amazing lunar eclipse.

So yeah, I was bored, but I won't hold it against Tweedy. In this case, it wasn't him, it was me.

This September, after hearing the White House‘s report on the "surge," Congress will decide whether we bring our troops home or spend another year fighting an unwinnable religious civil war. As Congress heads back to DC, we're here to tell them that it's time to take a stand.

We're holding candlelight vigils and Town Hall meetings in cities all over the nation on August 28--National Take a Stand Day--to remember the human cost of the war and urge our members of Congress to stand up in September and end this endless war.

It's not too late to plan to head to a vigil near you. The largest one will be in front of Horton Plaza at 5 pm but there are vigils planned for all around the county. I never thought that when I stood in Kensington Park 2 years ago with a candle that we'd still be in this fucking mess and that it would be even worse. I'm heading downtown now.

There's plenty of good stuff to make your Monday matter. There's the sold-out Gogol Bordello show at House of Blues, the Wilco show at the OAT, Anti-Monday League at the Casbah featuring Chow Nasty, Bad Credit, MC Flow and David Vaughn, and I have it on good authority that Gogol Bordello will be at the Kava Lounge after their show doing a DJ set, but even if they don't, check out San Diego's answer to Gogol in Di Nigunim. C'mon, what kinda boss would question you calling in sick on a Tuesday?

Welcome back PJ Harvey! It’s been three long years since Uh Huh Her, and while last year’s Peel Sessions was a treat, we’re always hungry for new PJ. Fortunately our appetites are soon to be sated as her new album White Chalk is coming on September 25 on Island Records.

White Chalk is her eighth studio album and highlights PJ Harvey’s incredible ability to consistently create a unique, yet always impactful experience with each new album. The songs are wonderfully mesmerizing, stripped back and performed to hypnotic effect, and her talents as a songwriter, musician, and producer have never been as powerful, or profound.

In the latest evacuation from the Bush Administration, we bid farewell to Alberto Gonzalez, the man who single-handedly answered the question, "how many ways can you say 'I don't know.'" The answer: a lot.

Sunday, August 26, 2007

I just spent the last 4 hours uploading all my photos from the Southern Comfort Music Festival. Normally I take a ton of pics and only put a few on my photobucket site, but I had such amazing access that I wanted to take as many pics as I could and thought I would make them all available for viewing.

I was a little bummed out that I hadn't heard back about my media request, but at 10:30 on Friday night, I got an e-mail letting me know I would have a media pass for the SCMX. Golden ticket. I've mentioned before that my friend was drumming for Z-Trip, too, so it was cool to hang out with him for the first time since December when he was in town with Mike Doughty. He called me around noon from Long Beach but he hit a ton of traffic, so I scrapped my plan to drive downtown, and instead took the bus to meet Pete at his favorite spot here, El Zarape. We drove to the venue and he had band parking right in front of Petco. He took off with the tour manager and I headed to the media table and grabbed my pass, bumping into Andrea as I walked through the gates.

Delta Spirit had already started and I missed the first three song photo op, so I just hung back bumping into plenty of friends. Delta Spirit translated well on the large stage and the sound was perfect. There weren't a lot of people there that early in the day, but it was good to see a lot of the people who are fans of DS there to show their love.

We were told by various people that there might be some VIP passes floating around, so after Delta Spirit and while Stranger played on the other stage, we tried to track some down. I thought I would point out that the program guide for the show listed the band as The Stranger's Six, though the pic and bio was for Stranger, the band that played. The Stranger's Six is a very different band than Stranger. just a note. We hung out at the CityBeat booth for a while, and M-Theory, too, then Galactic came on the big stage so I was off to take some pics.

Boots Riley of the Coup performed a few songs with Galactic and got the crowd riled up.

Mr. Lif also sang a couple tracks with the band and it was pretty great to see the New Orleans sounds of Galactic in the SoCo vibe of the event. (yes, beads everywhere.)

That was probably the hottest point of the day, so it was nice to get reprieve from the heat in shaded areas.

Natalie and I tracked down Marco Collins who was acting as MC for the event to thank him for getting us the media passes.

The Knee Highs played on the local stage and we were behind the stage as the theme from Growing Pains came on and the guys danced around to it in their backstage warmup.

The are hip hop act and they had great flow and onstage.

But we were on a mission, so we wandered around a bit more. I noticed that both gates seemed to have a lot more people pouring in and I heard the process was long and time consuming, but that was really the only complaint I heard about the event.

At that point in the day, the VIP area opened up. I was told that my media pass gave me access, but not the wristband that got three free drinks, so I finally got my hands on a VIP pass and got a wristband. It was a day full of text messaging and hunting people down, taking pictures and actually trying to enjoy the event.

I was running all over the place, but managed to get set up in time to take some pics of Black Rebel Motorcycle Club.

Pete messaged me that he was going to his car, so I met him out there and we listened to BRMC with the A/C on and just took some time to slow things down a bit. It was nice to sit still for a moment and be able to absorb the day for a minute.

We went back in through the VIP gate and I met up with Nat and Andrea and he took off to the backstage area. The VIP had catered food- some grilled veggies and chicken skewers, but those went quick, but I was happy with the mashed potato bar. Smart thinking there. Nothing better to soak up the liquor than some potatoes.

Z-Trip came on as the sun was finally setting. We were a little bummed because of the 3 song photo rule because Pete told me he wouldn't be on until the second half of the set. We tried to get special permission for photos when he came on but it "wouldn't be fair", so instead we had to find our way into the crowd, but people were surprisingly cool about letting us merge in with them. Z-Trip's set was amazing, mixing up classic tracks with modern stuff and getting the crowd nuts, particularly when he gave a big middle finger while slamming George Bush and a mosh pit broke out behind us while Z played Rage Against the Machine. Yes, a pit. During a DJ set. Who knew?

We were kinda anxious, wanting a drink in such a bad way but the set was long.

The crowd went nuts when various guests came out with Z-Trip and then finally Pete made his way onto the stage.

He has always been an amazing drummer and in this outlet could really shine with long solos while Z was offstage.

After catching him for a bit, we went back to the VIP, actually exiting through the main gate and reentering through the VIP area to avoid the crowds. Some friends were near the front of the booze line, so I got a couple drinks and chilled out for a bit. We ran into Marco who got us the VVIP wristbands that allowed people on the side platform during the band, but we were just happy to have more drink tickets since the bartenders were demanding them. We ladies love our free bevvies.

That's me and Marco. It was my first time meeting him in person, but definitely not the last. He was so cool and appreciative of our blogging thing and just a happy guy despite how much work he had to do to coordinate his portion of the event.

After having our drinks, Natalie and I made our way back to the photo pit where the Flaming Lips were already onstage getting all their equipment set up, so we missed Scarlet Symphony on the local stage. There was just no way to be everywhere.

I got all giddy getting to be so close to the action for the Lips.

Halloran and Boomer from FM 94/9 finally made their way out to introduce the Flaming Lips. I noticed the deflated plastic bubble on the side of the stage, so I called Natalie over to post up for the grand bubble entrance.

The bubble passed right over my head as Wayne made his way back onstage.

The show was amazing, though typical Flaming lips fare... dancing santas and aliens, the go-go academy girls onstage, confetti and fog machines...

Wayne is such a sexy man, I couldn't stop taking pics. Eventually, though, our three songs were up, so we went out the front gate where another couple hundred people were still trying to get into the event.

We finished up the night in the VIP area, where I felt bad for the bartender who was still busting his ass. They ran out of everything except Jack and SoCo, so I ordered to double Jack n cokes, though actually had to get two singles and two shots and then dump the shots in.

There were a lot of people behind the scenes who made the event possible, so credit to CityBeat, SoCo, the promoters, FM 94/9 and all the other people who made the day happen without a glitch.

I had the pass for the platform, but it was at capacity, so I just hung out as the night wrapped up. Pete had left, but called to find out if I knew of any vegetarian places where he could grab food, so I left before the show ended to meet him and we headed to La Posta for some quesadillas then he drove me home. He got a really cool poster from the show and gave me a smaller version of it that I will proudly hang in my home when I can get it properly framed.

Pete had a flight today out of LA, so after we ate, he took off and I couldn't believe it was still not even 11 o'clock. I met some friends over the Ken Club and closed out the night at the bar, then my neighbors came over again and again stayed up till the sun was coming up. Needless to say I was beat today and have been on this computer for the last 8 hours getting all my pics posted up. Now I'm beat once again and have to spend tomorrow getting serious about my job hunt, so if anyone has any leads, send them my way. My Things to Do list will be posted tomorrow afternoon. Hope everyone had as great a weekend as I did.